Trees And Other Things

That's good news.

 

May 6, 2021

 

it is. I have had this hearing aid thirteen years and at least three times have thrown it off with my oxygen
tubing and not hear it fall and be lost a week or more. People wearing oxygen 24/7 should not wear over the ear hearing aids (in my opinion).

 

Spent much of the afternoon online trying to find a washer with 1-1/4" inside diameter in stock anywhere in town. Lowes claims to have one. What are the chances of finding it, if it even exists? At least one 5 pack claimed at Tractor Supply. Is it true? Waited until rain reduced to a sprinkle and jumped in the truck.

Click, click, click..... Can you charge a battery in light rain?

Battery charger on a block of wood covered by a wastebasket. A chunk of 2x4 to keep the hood from closing down on the wires. Meanwhile watched one of the piston-like things that holds up the hood spew out gas. I now have a prop for the hood in the back seat.

Engine turned over on START setting. Thirty minutes later started on the 10 amp setting. Three hours later it starts by itself. Will see what it does in the morning.

I suppose I might as well get a new battery. This moves my plans one day later. I don't like going out to the farm on weekends lately. There is a battery charger out there also, but everything is closed. Many things close early on Saturdays.

Am I upset? .No. Can't think of a better place for this to happen than in my driveway.

 

No, everything was closed by the time the battery got charged. If it holds a charge overnight I'll feel safe driving it tomorrow. Maybe hook it up again in the morning for a while anyway.

You are lucky to get the fiber internet. It used to take 20 minutes to upload a 3 minute video to YouTube with DSL. With fiber it takes less than a minute.

The light in the glove compartment in my previous Ranger stopped going off when the door closed. It would run the battery down. Took me a long time to figure it out. I think the new cars have things that use the battery continuously.

Speaking of cars and batteries, I just read that the battery in an all electric car generally lasts at least 10 years, sometimes up to 20, but it loses about 2.3 percent of its starting range annually. The average cost to replace the battery is $5,500.

 

9:00 am. Battery did NOT hold a charge overnight. Three hours was probably not long enough, but I didn't want to leave it on all night because of high chance of more rain.

I should probably clean and tighten the connectors? That was the problem once with the lawn mower. Think I'll go do that now. That little battery tester gadget is out at the farm.

 

10:15 am. The connections looked clean, but the ring that goes around the the "+" terminal on the battery is very thin, not like the usual heavy duty ones. Probably original. One edge is broken off due to rust. Put it back and not going to touch it again. I imagine it will require a new connector first. Doubt Walmart would do that. Many auto places are closed, or close early on Saturday. This may have to wait until Monday. {sigh} I don't like weekends.

Just checked Walmart webpage. It says they do replace "battery terminal ends." But it's not clear to me what an "end" is. End of the battery cable? I guess so.

 

Continuation from Saturday morning...

Spent most of Saturday afternoon on the internet, and things I just learned are dropped in here and there.

Battery would not charge a second time, but truck would still crank with charger on START. You can drive a car even without a battery. Walmart inventory webpages are notoriously inaccurate. Phone calls to both Walmart's Auto depts transfer to the same main directory with options, and Auto is NOT one of them. Sears closed over a year ago. News to me. Anything close by that could also do minor service was closed for the weekend.

Starting out on possibly a wild goose chase, relying only on jumper cables and the good nature of passers-by, on a weekend, was not worth the risk, imo.

Left a message with "Pete's Mobile Garage" which does house calls and claims to be always open. I would be happy to donate money to any small business that stays open 24/7 here. Assuming he wouldn't reply, Plan B was a service station that does auto repair within walking distance Monday.

Early Sunday morning, Pete, himself, replied and showed up about 9:30 with two little dogs that didn't bark, in a little beat up station wagon older than my truck. Said I didn't need a new cable end clamp for just a few more months use. The other hood lift spewed out gas when he propped up the hood. Said he never saw that happen before. Wanted to buy my truck. I don't think so. It was worth the conversation, and not having to sit in a waiting room. He even does oil changes at your house.

The truck starts now almost before you can turn the key. I should have paid attention when it was sluggish to start last week, but I thought the battery was not very old. You couldn't see the date (2/2015) until you took it out. Time flies.

Went shopping. Truck stalled twice idling too slow. All the computer settings on a vehicle go back to factory default when a battery is disconnected. I would have almost certainly been stranded somewhere had I gone out earlier. Likely at a stoplight. Apparently the old computer is still functioning, because it learned to idle faster by the end of the trip.
.
.

 

For some reason I woke up a 6 this morning and my hedge trimmer was in the back yard. First time I actually got to see him.

Apologies for the quality of the video. It was taken right up at the kitchen window and I don't think the camera liked that. It has a mind of its own. Last segment was through a screened window. At least he took a decent pose right in front of the sink hole.

 

Good grief, it's already halfway to another weekend. What will happen this time?

Finishing up Sunday (6/13) ...

Went to 3 places looking for that washer and ended up with 6, but I think they are all too thin.

It's for the tailwheel on the mower. Only one was included (as advertised). Larger tailwheels of the same design, and many others of different designs, come with 2. This is going to be hard enough to do, and will be twice as hard to redo, so I really wanted to get it right the first time.

Shopping trip ended up at the Lowes on the other side of town. Hadn't been there since the new one opened close by. It's more oriented toward contractors. Found a 72" threshold that might be perfect for the steps, plenty in stock. Thought of 2 more projects to put on the to-do list just wandering around looking.

By then it was 5 pm. The lawn is getting out of hand again, so I at least mowed the front yard. Then ordered a 1/4" thick washer through Amazon, only sold in pairs.

Anyone need some hard to find washers?


(6/14/21) Monday

More mowing in town. Still not finished. The problem with mowing in the humid South is the dew doesn't evaporate until noon, and it starts falling again around 2 hours before dark. That leaves the hottest part of the day to mow, and exactly the same period when afternoon showers often show up. Gotta love the South. So many excuses available here.

 

(6/15/21) Tuesday

Went out to the farm with good intentions. Lots of work planned. Couldn't find the key to the padlock on the garage where the tractor lives. Knew this day would come, but kept putting off getting a spare key. Watched YouTube video on smartphone: 10 Ways to Pick a Lock.

It's one of those heavy duty Master locks with laminated steel, so 8 ways were ruled out. The other 2 didn't work. Briefly contemplated removing the door. One half of door is 6'x 8' and there is a small chance key isn't inside anyway.

At least I got the lawn mowed. The neighbor creeps a little farther onto all the neighbors' properties every time she mows. She is now up to my driveway. If she thinks it will give her husband points toward deer hunting, she is wrong (long story). I never intended to mow the section she is doing anyway.

When I got home the key was in a pants pocket in the dirty laundry basket.

Did you ever kiss an inanimate object?

 

(6/17/21) Thursday

I have a bad feeling about the bluebirds. About 2 weeks ago it was obvious they were preparing for a second clutch. Carrying more nest building material into that pole. I saw the female once about a week ago, and no sign of either one since. That clothesline pole is the same one the hawk was perched on a few months ago.

This is making me more sad than I should be. Probably because I think I could have done something, but I don't know what. I didn't put the bucket on the pole because the male always perched there as a lookout and I thought they might leave if I did. Maybe I should have.

This evening I trimmed and cleaned up the hedge on the west side of the back lawn. Got a whole truck load of clippings and it wasn't overgrown. Just a lot of it, about 100 feet. The tips are yellow and two plants died since I first set them out. Maybe they were a bad choice for hedge. They are so easy to trim, and no thorns.

The no-see-ums are back. Witch Hazel didn't work. I had to stuff cotton in my ears to keep them out. Lots of mosquito bites, and watch your step for the fire ants. The bugs are taking over. OTOH, there were dozens of fireflies tonight. More than I've seen in years.

 

Maybe the bluebirds saw the hawk and decided to relocate, Nancy.

 

Yeah, that's a possibility. I didn't think of that. It's better to think that. Thanks.